Atack, who has also appeared on ITV's Dancing On Ice, then replied to her abuser saying: "Prison for you."

She told her fans: "Hi all, thanks for your nice tweets! Police are on the case. X"

A police spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that we received a complaint reporting malicious communications and our investigations are ongoing."

Malcolm Browning, Atack's agent, said: "This has been a very upsetting and unsettling incident for Emily, but we are reassured that the police have responded so quickly and are taking this matter so seriously."

The Inbetweeners, which aired for three series from 2008 to 2010, spawned The Inbetweeners Movie in 2011 and a forthcoming spin-off series called Drifters.